Can't Buy Me Love
by saffy87
Summary: Taylor Lautner and Sarah had been in a relationship for a few years now and everything seemed fine on the outside. Secretly Taylor and Sarah were drifting apart because of how busy Taylor was becoming. Then one day Sarah met Charlie Hunnam and her world got turned upside down. Who would she choose?


It was a beautiful day in Los Angeles, California. The sun was shining brightly, there was a slight breeze in the air and it was my birthday. I know a lot of people don't usually care about their birthdays after they turn twenty-one but I had always been big into celebrating mine. Today was my twenty eighth birthday and I was feeling better than ever.

I had a great job;

**Flashback**

I was working at a local restaurant/bar called "Zelda's". It was a new place that one of my best friends had decided to open. Her name was Sky. We had met as soon as I had moved to LA a few years ago. We worked at a local restaurant and she would tell me all about plans of wanting to open up her own place. After saving all her money and getting a few friends to help her, she finally opened up the place of her dreams. Of course, being her best friend, she asked me to come work for her and I did. It was the best decision of my life. Not only was going to work fun but it was really laid back. I was hired to be the main bartender but Sky quickly asked me to become the bar manager as well. She was learning she didn't have enough time to manage the whole restaurant alone and I was only happy to help. More money and more time doing something I loved was okay in my book.

Since we lived in LA and celebrities frequently came into our restaurant Sky hired people who had previous experience not only serving but also working around famous people. She learned early on that she couldn't hire just any person off the street. There were more than a few instances where there was screaming and crying done by some of the wait staff because they had seen a celebrity at their table and didn't know what to do. Just to keep that from happening again Sky made sure to check references before hiring anyone.

A lot of celebrities would come in to Zeldas. That's actually how I had met my boyfriend, Taylor Lautner. I had been bartending one night and Taylor had come in and sat at the bar. He was sitting alone with his phone and he looked so miserable. Of course I knew who he was and thought he was very attractive but didn't think that telling him that would make him feel better at this time. He was wearing dark jeans and a black v neck t-shirt.

"Can I get you a drink?" I asked walking towards him at the end of bar.

"Captain and coke please" Taylor sighed looking through his iPhone and not bothering to look up at me.

I make him his drink and sat it down in front of him. "Thanks" he replied still not looking at me.

"$5.50 unless you want to open a tab" I said getting a little annoyed. I didn't care how hot he was, if he wasn't going to bother to acknowledge me then I wanted him to pay so I could help my other guests who actually looked at me.

"Tab please, If I'm going to make it through this week I'm going to need a few more of these" Taylor said turning off his phone and finally making eye contact with me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black card and handed it to me.

"Sure no problem" I said taking his card, a black American Express, of course, and laying it next to the register.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name" I heard him say behind me.

I turned around with a small smile, "Its Sarah"

Taylor smiled back, "Sorry for being so miserable Sarah, I just auditioned for 5 movies this week and all of them made some excuse telling me why I wasn't getting the part. It's been a rough week". He took a large gulp of his drink and then raised his glass to me "Cheers".

I pulled another glass from behind the bar and started to make him another captain and coke. "Well I'm sorry about your luck but I'm sure there are plenty of people that would love to hire you. I mean you were pretty great in those Twilight movies", I said placing his new drink next to his half empty one.

Taylor looked at me and tilted his head with a heart-melting smile, "So you do know who I am then huh? You don't look like the normal screaming teenage fans I usually get that recognize me", he said leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Well for one I'm 26, not exactly a teenager, and two I didn't know that only teenagers were allowed to like Twilight", I said trying not to laugh.

Taylor took another sip of his drink and nodded his head smiling, "Ninety five percent of the people who notice me or stop me for pictures are under the age of sixteen. Not saying it's a bad thing but it's just how it is I guess".

I was about to reply when his phone started going off and he picked it up and looked at the screen, "Sorry I have to take this" he said.

I just nodded, then walked down behind the bar to make sure my other customers were still doing okay.

"Is that who I think it is?" Sky whispered nudging me glancing down toward Taylor who was still talking on the phone.

I nodded my head, "Yep sure is. Taylor Lautner".

"I didn't know he was legal", Sky said still staring at Taylor.

I snorted, "Really Sky?"

"What? I meant legal drinking age!"

"Uh huh sure ya did" I said shaking my head and laughing. "He is twenty two now if you must know".

"Well twenty two or not he is fine" Sky said looking at me.

"Yeah he is pretty cute" I replied glancing down at him again. He was done talking on his phone but now he looked like he was texting.

"Isn't he single too?"

I whipped my head around to face Sky, "Don't even think about it".

Sky automatically put her hands up and shook her head, "Relax Sarah, I'm just saying. You're single. He's single. You're hot. He's definitely hot…couldn't hurt to flirt a little bit. You haven't had a boyfriend since I've known you, like 5 years now! You need a man."

"I don't need a man. Sure I would like one but even if I was interested in him he is a movie star who could have any girl he wanted, there is no way he would choose me." I replied pouring a beer for the old man who just sat down at the bar.

"Excuses, excuses Sarah. Anyone would be lucky to go out with you celebrity or not." Sky said before walking back into the kitchen.

I made my way back towards the other end of the bar where Taylor was sitting. He was finished on his phone and was looking up at the TV on the wall behind me.

"Looks like you need another drink" I said nodding at his two empty glasses.

"Yes thank you. Sorry about earlier, that was my agent on the phone. She was trying to cheer me up by telling me that there is another audition tomorrow that she thinks I will be good for. I told her no thanks, I've been rejected enough this week"

I placed Taylor's third drink in front of him and grabbed his two empty glasses to put in the dishwasher, "Well the more you go to the better your chances of getting a role right?" I said looking at him smiling.

"True, but I don't want the "sexy werewolf" role anymore. I want to be taken seriously as a real actor. Don't get my wrong I appreciate my time in Twilight and all it has done for me but I can't seem to move on from it" he finished with a sigh.

Taylor ended up sitting at the bar for a few more hours and talking to me until almost closing time. We just talked about his job, friends, family and then he asked a lot of questions about my life. It was nice, he was really down to earth and easy to talk to. Pretty soon he was drunk. I offered to call him a cab but he said his one friend would come pick him up.

"Thank you for listening to me Sarah, you are the best bartender I have ever had the pleasure of meeting" Taylor said smiling and starting to stand up.

I blushed and smiled back, "Anytime, I'm always here to lend an ear".

That is when he said his goodbyes and left me a generous tip along with his phone number on the credit card receipt. I was shocked to say the least. I mean we had talked for a few hours and he seemed like a great guy but I seriously doubted he would even remember me after he left. I smiled and just figured that Taylor was drunk and didn't really mean to leave me his number. When Sky saw the receipt with the number on it she was convinced that it was a sign and I had to call him right away.

"I told you! He obviously likes you he sat here all night talking to you and left you his number! Just call him!" she screamed waving her hands around in my face.

"He was drunk Sky and plus he just needed someone to listen to him and that's what bartenders do right? I'm not calling him." I said wiping down the bar.

"You are ridiculous! Any girl would have ran out the door after that man and you just throw his number in the trash like nothing. You are afraid of a relationship Sarah." Sky said placing her hands on her hips and staring at me with her big blue eyes. "You don't want to get attached to anyone because of what happened to you before but you have to get over it! It's been five years! If I was single I would call him, heck I might anyway! I'm pretty sure Alex wouldn't mind"

Alex was Sky's boyfriend of three years now and one of my other best friends. They complimented each other so well. She was the calm to his crazy. Alex was an up and coming musician trying get noticed in LA.

"Alex would kill you and I'm not calling him. That's my final word". I said starting to get annoyed with the conversation.

"You are incorrigible!" Sky yelled before walking back into the kitchen turning off lights on the way.

"Good night, love you!" I yelled sarcastically to her.

A week passed and I had forgotten all about Taylor and his visit to Zelda's. It was a Friday night and was starting to get busy. The bar was full and I was making drinks like crazy for all the servers when I heard someone say my name from the other end of the bar.

"Sarah!"

I turned my head to see Taylor Lautner standing at the end of the bar smiling with two other guys next to him. I turned back around stunned. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Sarah, I think its full." Phil, one of the servers who was waiting for his drinks said pointing to the beer tap that I had left open. Beer was pouring out all over my hand and the already full glass.

"Shit!" I turned off the tap and handed glass to Phil who was smirking at me.

"Looks like someone is back to see you huh?"

"Shut up" I replied as I turned to walk towards Taylor and his pals.

"Looks like you're busy tonight" Taylor said with a big smile "This is Sean and this is Charlie" he said pointing to the two young men with him. They both smiled at me and nodded.

"Hi, what can I get for you guys?" I asked trying to calm my nerves. I don't know why I was nervous all of a sudden. I had been fine the last time he came in but for some reason now I was shaking.

"I'll have my usual" Taylor winked at me "and they will both have whatever is on draft".

I turned around to start getting their drinks but bumped right into Sky who had snuck behind the bar without me noticing.

"I'll take care of the other customers, you just help Mr. Lautner and his friends okay?" she smirked at me.

"No it's fine, I can handle it." I started to reply.

"I'm not asking" Sky said with a hard look in her eye.

I rolled my eyes and continued to make Taylor and his friends their drinks.

"Thanks Sarah" Taylor said as I handed him the drinks "I know you're busy but do you have a minute?" he asked.

"She's not busy" Sky replied back before I could answer. Taylor smiled at her and then pointed to a corner of the restaurant that wasn't as crowded. I nodded and walked out behind the bar and followed him to a small table by the bathrooms in the corner. His friends were still standing at the bar and were talking animatedly with Sky. Taylor sat down and waited for me to follow suit.

"So who are your friends?" I asked trying to break the awkward silence.

"Oh Charlie and Sean? They are my best friends from school, way before I was a werewolf in Twilight haha. They just came out to visit me this weekend so I thought I would show them around".

"Oh well they seem nice" I said looking over at them at the bar. They were still talking to Sky and laughing about something.

"So I know you are busy and I'll try to make this quick so you can get back to work, I was just wondering why you never called" Taylor asked taking a sip of his drink and looking over his glass at me.

I just looked at him for a minute not quite knowing what to say. I can't believe that he just asked me that. "Ummm well honestly you were pretty drunk the other night and I just figured you wrote your number down by mistake or something. I didn't think you really wanted me to call".

Taylor smiled and shook his head, "You think I just stayed here for hours and left my number by accident? I really was hoping we could hang out and talk some more or even go for dinner. I think you are an awesome person and I want to get to know you better. I don't just hand out my number to everyone you know" he finished laughing.

I smiled and blushed, "Sorry".

Taylor sat back in his seat and looked at me for a minute before saying, "So what are you doing tomorrow? Would you like to go out for dinner with me?"

"I work at 5" I replied.

"Lunch then?" Taylor said leaning on the table and getting closer to me.

I started to get nervous again and didn't want to make direct eye contact with him. I looked back at the bar and saw Sky looking at me and smiling.

"Come on Sarah, one date and if you are bored and miserable I give you permission to never speak to me again" Taylor said smiling.

"Okay, lunch should be fine" I replied nodding my head.

"Great! What's your number? I'll text you later and we can figure out what time and where to meet" he said getting out his phone.

I gave him my number and stood up. "I should really get back to work but I'll see you tomorrow".

"Can't wait" Taylor said as he leaned across the table and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and then made his way back over to the bar to Charlie and Sean. I just stood there not believing what was happening. Taylor Lautner just asked me out and kissed my cheek. Is this real life?

The rest is history. We went out for lunch the next day and ever since then we've been together. That was two years ago now but seems like yesterday.

**End Flashback**

I was on my way home from the grocery store, driving in my black Range Rover when I heard my cell phone ringing in my purse. I leaned over to the passenger seat and started to root through my purse, trying to not run off the road at the same time. I finally felt my phone and pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Taylor.

"Hey babe" I said smiling into my phone "I was just thinking about you".

"Hey I'm going to be a little late tonight babe, I have to reshoot this scene and they need it done by tonight" Taylor said.

My smile fell, "Oh okay, I understand. What time will you be done then?"

"I don't know hopefully around eight. I'm sorry babe, I know you were excited for your birthday".

"It's fine, just hurry home okay?" I said trying to sound cheerful.

"Sure, love you" Taylor said.

"Love you too. Bye."

I hung up the phone feeling a little less excited. I know it's just part of his job and it has happened a million times before but it doesn't make it any less hard. At least Sky and Alex were still coming over and Taylor shouldn't be too late. Everything would be great, it was still my birthday and I wasn't going to let anything ruin it.


End file.
